SO much fun - TOO much fun . . .

Have I mentioned that I'm not sure which part of photography I like more, the actual shooting or the editing? The shooting is a blast - I get to hang with the coolest, kindest people and do what I can to preserve that moment in time . . . but then the giant nerd in me just LOVES sitting at the computer, music playing, editing pictures to my little heart's content. :)

I'm finishing up Stacy's senior session and just had to share a few more. I think I'm liking the route they've taken . . . I never quite know where I'll end up. As I shoot each image, in the back of my head I can SEE how I want the finished product to look. What is "in" my camera is just the start of what is in my mind . . . and I'm having way too much fun with Stacy's senior pictures - they are totally turning out EXACTLY how they appeared in my head as I took them. :D Yay for THAT!

One from yesterday......for now....

It's all I have time to share at this moment - but it's so sweet that I HAVE to do it. This is Hannah - just as sweet as can be. :)

The Countdown is ON!

40 days left. FORTY. And that's assuming she doesn't come any earlier than her actual due date. (Which will surprise me if they wait until that date to do her c-section.) 40. That's not that long.

I seem to be spending most of my nights tossing and turning, thinking of all the things to do before she comes. Mostly because I plan to do NOTHING but cuddle with her and play with the kids when she does get here - at least for a while. So my list of things "to do" grows and grows as I think of what really should be done before her arrival. :)

Finish the bunk-beds (Matthew's task mostly)
Find a dresser for the kids
Put together the crib
Finish going through "stuff" in extra room & pack away neatly
Give away/throw away "stuff" we weeded out of extra room
Paint my bedroom
Find curtains for bedroom
Wash baby clothes so they're ready for her
Make some meals to have in the freezer
Finish business paperwork/tax information
Organize ALL paperwork so it's even easier to work with while in baby "fog"
Take stuff to consignment store (& look around too!)
Dentist for Micah, Ella & me
Doctor for Micah
Tie up any loose ends with business
Go through all books & sort/weed out
Re-organize bookshelf completely
Put up more shelving in extra closet (Matthew's task)
Mulch the front yard flower bed (Matthew's task)
Get flowers to replace those that did not survive winter & plant
Make plans for Awana the weeks I'm out - and start planning next year's club
2 sessions left (currently) to shoot
Almost all editing finished but need to quickly complete the ones coming up
Finish wedding website (SO excited about this...)

Oh goodness me. There I went again, and I could go on and on. These aren't actually all REALISTIC but man it would feel GREAT to get them all done! I can't say seeing them all neatly typed out makes me feel ANY better, but I suppose if I come and refer to this in a few weeks I might see progress and THAT might help. :)

Either way, 3am was not good to me this morning and by 4 I decided to get up and at least get started on the "quiet" tasks - like editing. :) SO, while the big stuff is still waiting for me, I can feel good about having made some progress this morning.

Ella is "starving" and Micah has been playing with KNEX all morning - he would like to "share" a picture of the car he built so perhaps we'll do that later today or tomorrow. :) He understands that his grandmas & grandpas - and aunties - all look here occasionally and he wants to make sure they get to see it before Ella ruins it - ha!

A picture of the lovely Stacy, because it really is lame to have a post with NO images - which I've done a lot of lately. ;)

Ssssssssss.........

This snake was SO COOL. I have a totally irrational fear of snakes - but not this snake, fortunately. :) I see the little ones and FREAK. I see them at the zoo behind the glass and I'm all panicky and have a hard time breathing. But this lady didn't really bother me, wierdly enough.

NO, I was not willing to hold him - I so wish I had the courage for that. But I could just see herself around me and squeezing me . . . so as long as I could jsut LOOK at her, I was OK. :)

There I was, layign on the ground just inches from her face - I forget that once I get down there, I can't actually move around in any graceful way - well, I'm kinda stuck. :) But she didn't seem to mind me so much.

She is a 12 year old (I hope I get this right!!) Burmese Albino Python - I remember her owner "walking" her in the park when I was a kid - yes, I've been here over 12 years - and she was really cool then too. :)

She totally chilled while we took a break from our photo shoot and admired her beauty. :) I wish I knew her name . . .

Oh dear.

I am just THIS CLOSE to officially being 34 weeks pregnant. I have less than 6 weeks left . . . assuming they do the surgery a few days early. THAT IS NOT MUCH TIME.

I believe I have possibly launched from a little panicky this morning into an all-out-frenzy. I have gone through the kids clothing, put all the girl stuff away in boxes labeled for the sizes they are for this new little one to wear. Divided Micah’s stuff up into “give-away”, “Ethan”, “trash”, “Levi”, and “sell” piles – now I need to see if and what my nephew will even be able to use, and if nothing, divide it up again into the other piles. :)

She (this new little one) won’t have much to wear those first few months but she is TOTALLY set for 18m – 3 years! Eventually she’ll have a fabulous wardrobe, in the meantime, she’ll be cute in her onesies. ha :)

I think I’m going to move Ella’s clothes and toys into Micah’s room today. No REAL reason to not do it, other than it might be annoying to have them in his room but I’m not sure why. Most of it will go in his dresser and the rest of it will hang – and when the bunk beds are ready we’ll just need to either find or buy a dresser for their room. (The super cool dresser/sky bed is going to go to Ethan and so we'll be on the look out for a tall dresser if anyone has one to sell or get rid of!)

I might have Matthew put up the crib in Ella’s room this weekend – just stick it in the corner. And I can move all of her toys and stuff over to Micah’s room – have Matthew take the train table BACK downstairs (it used to be there until I got tired of it and moved it back to his room upstairs) – I think we’ll leave it there for a few months until I decide if we keep it or get rid of it. For now, it’s kinda annoying to have in the middle of the room, plus Ella’s got her toys and the little table to move into Micah’s room - not to mention the dress up stuff! (which is so very important, of course...)

So much to do! So little time. Need to paint my room. Need to finish the bathroom (decorating). Need to finish going through paperwork. Should probably give some thought to what I might want in the hospital bag. I dumped a pile of stuff out in the middle of my room and now I have to go through that - it was taking up good plastic bins that I needed to put the kids' clothes away in, so now I have THAT to do! Today just might be one of my most productive days EVER.

I might be – MAYBE, just maybe – nesting a little bit.... Or just freaking out – whatever. Either way, since 4:30 this morning I have been SUPER busy and have made lots of progress. Hopefully I'll sleep longer tonight since I've worked so very hard today. :D

Hugs & Kisses

I would say this is the last of the Hamilton family - at least, here on the blog . . . but I don't want to lie. There may be more. Just work with me, ok? If I had pictures like this of my babies and I, I think I would be the happiest person alive. :)

More of the Hamilton Family -

I've got to say - as much as family sessions stress me out (I feel like they are totally out of my league!), I love it when the families are interacting and I just get to witness and document their time. Posed shots are of course great to get - otherwise you might never see everybody's faces at the same time - ha! But the moment in between the posed shots are my favorites.

Little snuggles, giggles, kisses, tickles - THESE moments are why I don't mind going out of my comfort zone a little bit to photograph families together. :) It sure doesn't hurt that little Logan here is so stinkin' cute . . . how could he NOT look fabulous surrounded by all that love?? :)

COOLEST thing EVER.

OK so I might be exaggerating - a little. Check out this website - www.phonezoo.com - seriously . . . I can see me wasting away the rest of my day here. Basically, you upload whatever you want, a song or some other sound file (your kids? whatever!) and create a ringtone out of it. FOR FREE.

You know how you go and try to find a ringtone you like - but then you find the song you want and whatever bozo created the rington picked the WORST part of the song for the ringtone? Well now you can make your OWN - out of the same song! Neato huh?

The BEST part is that you can look through other people's ringtones - the very first one I sent to my phone was in honor of Micah - and as soon as he heard the music from the computer he came RUNNING! I'll share it with you guys because it is FUNNY! :)


Create free ringtones at Phonezoo

SO go ahead - have fun, make a ringtone or two ;) (Not to mention all the other cool stuff you can do with it....)

The Jurado Family - Part 2

Since working more with the Jurado Family's pictures I've decided there is definately a need to share some more. :) Hopefully all of you in "internet-world" won't mind . . . I know that Bronwen DEFINATELY won't mind! So Bronwen, these are mostly for your benefit - although some of it is for me. I really L-O-V-E to see my favorite images from client sessions nice and BIG on the blog . . . then I feel like I really get to view them. More like they were meant to be seen. ;)

Ok here's little David - what a cutie eh??

Now I do know that these last two are OBNOXIOUSLY big. But . . . well, I'm a little late for church this morning and there isn't time to re-size. I'll try to remember to do that later. :) These are both "samples" of what a Custom Storyboard is - you pick the pictures (or I can) and I create a larger print out of them. These two are actually 30x15 and 20x10 in size, the black line around the edges isn't really "there" - it's just to show the outline of the storyboard. And they are mounted - ready to prop on a shelf, place on a plate/picture holder on a table, frame, stick to the wall - whatever. ;) Just thought I'd mention this since most people don't really know WHAT a storyboard is. This is it:

A few more of Stacy...

I didn't have enough time yesterday to get any more images of Stacy's senior session up - so I thought I'd take the time to do that today. For a person who is supposedly about to go on maternity leave, I have managed to pile on the workload! :) (I suppose laundry doesn't REALLY count towards my workload . . . but when the pile is as high as mine is, it surely qualifies!)

Here are a few more of Stacy - I don't think I'll be able to help myself - between her, the Jurado family and baby Logan, I'm pretty sure I'm going to annoy all of you people who follow this blog -- but there is so much to share!! :D Have a great Saturday!

Stacy - Class of '09

Last night I met up with Stacy, her mom and her sister. We had so much fun! (OK I shouldn't speak for all of us - but I had a great time!) We started out in her formal dress (which she TOTALLY rocked!) and then moved onto some more casual stuff. I've known Stacy and her family, well, since I remember - they've always been friends of my family's - and it is so cool to see her grown up into such a beautiful young woman!

Last year I photographed her brother, David, and we discussed yesterday how different it is to see a guy all grown up than a girl. :) Stacy has changed - but she hasn't - she's still herself, just older, taller, even more beautiful. But it definately was harder to get over seeing her brother last year - REALLY grown up - I think maybe because they turn into men?? And me, being - you know - a girl and all, it shocks me! Perhaps if I were a dude it would be the other way around . . .

OK enough blabber - Stacy, I had SO much fun with you yesterday - thanks for trying out some stuff with me and for not laughing at me when I almost killed myself. ;) There are so many more pictures to come - can't wait to share them with you - but for now, just a little teaser ;)

Me - and Baby #3

I recently got to spend some time with a dear friend - she used to be my neighbor and the neighborhood hasn't been the same since they left. She is also an INCREDIBLY talented photographer - and she offered to do some maternity pictures of me. Not only did I say yes because - well, DUH! - but also because we just do not see each other often. I miss her terribly - but the little bit we see each other is always special. :)

Stacy, thank you SO much - you don't know how special these are to me. How special YOU are to me! You've managed to capture me as WAY more beautiful than I feel - and I LOVE these! I cannot wait to see the rest - thank you for taking the time to do this for me. :) By the way - everybody "out there" - you can check out Stacy's beautiful photography at http://www.stacylarsenphotography.com/

Logan - 5 months

Yesterday afternoon I got to see little Logan again - and MY has he grown! He was such a teeny little guy when I photographed him last . . . elisabethnixonphotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/little-log... 5 months later has been good to this dude. He's as happy and content as could be - I'm sure a blessing to his parents. :) His mama has told me how much he just smiles and squeals - how happy he is - and even though the poor little guy was exhausted from skipping a much-needed nap, he did all those things!!

He squealled at me, shrieked at me - smiled and talked. He did a lot of staring too - at the big black thing I was holding - but he was pleased when I dangled the strap over him. :) A sleepy little one he was, but what a great personality. :)

Adrienne - I know you were worried he didn't smile as much he "normally" does - but he truly is too sweet for words! AND, all of that happiness out of one so tired . . . And yes, I did manage to get his gummy little smile! So many more to come of this little guy - but I hope you like your sneak peek. :)

The Jurado Family

I spent the morning with a very special family. The Jurados have four awesome children - Lily, Maddie, Esther & David. (I hope I spelled their names right!) It reminded me of my childhood, we also had four children in our family - only our youngest was another girl (4 girls - go Dad!).

We met on Park Avenue and immediately found ourselves surrounded by LOTS of people. I didn't think to check a calendar - but this Saturday morning was not only the Farmer's Market, but also a festival in the park - lots of people around! We still managed to find some spots here and there that weren't overrun with people, and almost everybody was super kind to give us a little space if we were photographing. :) (They probably realized that it wasn't super easy for Bronwen and Sergio to corral and set up a picture with six people going in different directions!)

What a sweet family though - such kind and friendly children, obviously having learned that from their parents. :) There will be more pictures to add to this first little sneak peek - but I'm off to another session this afternoong. I didn't want to have NOTHING to show for all of their hard work and perserverance this morning!! It was so nice to meet you guys - Sergio, Bronwen, Lily, Maddie, Esther and David - Sergio thank you SO much for all your hard work keeping David entertained and focused - no easy task for a 20 month old! :) Thanks to you all for such a lovely morning. :)

The Problem with Eggs in a Nest

We had "eggs in a nest" for breakfast the other day. One of my FAVORITE ways to eat eggs and toast - and the kids like it too. There is one small problem though, with feeding your children something like this . . .

"Why do you call it 'eggs in a nest' Mommy?" Micah asks me.

"Well," I say, "It's because you cook the egg in the middle of the bread, and the bread is like a nest around the egg."

"But Mommy . . . this isn't a REAL egg, like the kind with a bird in it. THAT is the kind of egg that goes in a nest. Not the kind you eat."

UH-OH. So I tried to tackfully explain to Micah where the eggs come from, and how they are from chickens, just like the chicken that we ate for supper last night.

"You mean that when we eat chicken nuggets we are eating CHICKENS??" He asked me in horror.

I honestly did not know what to say. I said yes, and then changed the subject as quickly as I could. Hopefully it won't come up again. The other conversation I'm hoping stays buried for a while is, "Where did you get the antlers from, Grandpa? How did you get them off the deer's head?" Ahh the joys of growing up. I don't remember asking (or hearing the answers) to these questions as a kid - I guess I did at some point but for now, I figure I just always knew!

FOR THE RECORD: This conversation did not slow Micah (or the rest of us) down from actually devouring the "eggs in a nest". Some things are just too good to worry about. :)

And the winner is . . . !

OK so before I announce the winner, I will explain how I did this as fairly as possible. :) No, Matthew's comment didn't count - although I wouldn't put it past him to "hide" the iTunes gift card before I mail it out! (He's always on the lookout for something new for his ipod.) But I did think it was sweet of him to leave one . . .

You all blew me away - there were 170 visits yesterday to the blog - that's the most EVER in one day - by FAR!! I realize that number isn't big by the world's standards - but to me it is. :) Thanks so much for everybody playing along with me - and I'm so glad that so many of you left a comment . . . I wish you ALL could win, I really do!!

There were 26 comments left yesterday. Three of them don't count - mine (in response to somebody else), Matthew's and a duplicate comment. However, the comments weren't all left on yesterday's post - so I combined all of the comments left (since I didn't SPECIFY that comments left on yesterday's post were the only ones that counted) - and put you all in order. :) However, for all of that work (I create my own troubles with my current brainless/pregnant state), random.org kinda didn't care!

Here's all of you, entered into random.org . . .

And here is who random.org picked!

Congratulations Jaimee! :) Jaimee is the older sister of Kathryn - one of my best and oldest friends. Jaimee is ALSO (and she might say more importantly!) the Aunt of Benjamin - one of the CUTEST babies alive on the planet. For her sake (and the sake of all of us - because WHO doesn't need a bit of baby-love at 8 in the morning?) . . . here come pictures of Benjamin to celebrate her win. (Jaimee - I'll email you!)

18,000+ Visitors - Woot woot!

OK yall - so this doesn't seem like much in the large scheme of things, but I am so excited! I noticed on Friday that I was getting REALLY close to having had 18,000 visits to my blog - and I didn't start recording the statistics until about May of last year. Which means in less than a year - over 18,000 visits have been made. Sure, a whole bunch of you visit every day - which is TOTALLY awesome - but even so . . . what a big number! :)

So I've got this little $15 iTunes gift card and I figured this is a great opportunity to give it away. :) Here's the deal though - since today is Tuesday (the day when the MOST people check the blog!!) - you've got to leave a comment if you want to win it. I'm not going to pick a number out of thin air - however many people comment, I will number them in the order they commented. THEN, I will use www.random.org to pick a completely random number and THAT person gets the gift card. If only ONE person comments - kudos and congrats to them! :) (I have a feeling Lydia and Veronica will be duking this one out.)

Also, one comment per person - NO CHEATING Sarah!! Ha ha! And I don't need to "know" you to mail you this iTunes card - so ANYBODY can play. :)

Whoopee for 18,000 visits and GOOD LUCK! :) Here's a picture of Ella from last May - around the time I started recording the stats on the blog - isn't she cute? Well, maybe cute isn't the word . . . :)

Wedding Favorites: Looking Back

Last year I was SO blessed to be able to fly up to Canada to shoot a couple of weddings with my cousin's wife, Heather. She is a wonderfully talented wedding and portrait photographer and we had SOOOO much fun shooting together. :) It's been quite a while since I even looked at the pictures that I took - sad isn't it? - and finally this week was getting around to pulling my wedding portfolio together. Hopefully in the next month or so I'll launch a website specifically for weddings (exciting, no?).

ANY-who, I have some new favorites that I figured I'd share - these are from Cate & Jordan's wedding. They were married right on the St. Johns river and the tide was out - they suggested walking out onto the "beach" and stomping around a bit - of COURSE Heather and I were ecstatic! Who doesn't love a bride and groom willing to stomp around in the mud and salt water?! :)

Heather - again, thanks so much for including me in these weddings! I had SO much fun - plus it was an awesome opportunity to watch you work. :)

A little bit different on these last ones - some added texture :)